Luis Enrique did not sound like a man whose side had just won 4-2 at Manchester City.
The Spaniard’s reading of the Etihad on Wednesday turned on a second half he described as a near miss.
“It’s very nice to feel that but I have to repeat, today we were lucky because in the second half we could have conceded more goals,” he told reporters.
“We could have lost this match if they scored the chances that they created.”
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The scoreline that gave him that cushion was built in a 32-minute first-half rush. Désiré Doué put PSG ahead on 13 minutes, Ousmane Dembélé added a second two minutes later and Vitinha made it 3-0 before the half-hour, according to the ESPN match report.
Haaland’s double sets a City record
City came back out and ran at the holders. Haaland pulled one back on 53 minutes before Maghnes Akliouche looked to have settled it on 62. Haaland scored again on 75 to make it 4-2 and keep the comeback alive. City also hit the woodwork twice, had a goal cleared off the line by Nuno Mendes and Ferran Torres missed a late penalty.
Haaland’s double took him to 38 goals in 41 Champions League appearances for Manchester City, making him the club’s all-time leading scorer in the competition, ESPN reported. He was denied a hat-trick when PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov saved from close range.
Luis Enrique returned to the point on PSG’s own channels. He called the second half “a lesson that we need to do even better, because we could have lost it,” in post-match reactions published by the club.
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Maresca accepts first City defeat
For Manchester City, this was a first defeat under Enzo Maresca, who took charge of the club this summer. A winning run under Maresca ended against a side he himself called the best team in Europe.
“It was a strange game. Two goals in two minutes created some problems for us. Second half, we were good,” Maresca told Sky Sports.
“If you don’t go toe-to-toe you struggle.”
“We are there, to be honest. My feeling is that we are close.”
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PSG next host FC Barcelona in the Champions League in six days, according to the club’s post-match coverage.
